State Of The Union Speech

Album Review

The first U.S. release by German power metal quintet Loxodrome starts very promisingly with the ominous, heavy instrumental "Speechless," but it's straight downhill as soon as the second song starts. Apparently, central Europe has not yet heard that rap-rocking nu-metal is pretty much dead, and as a result, "Open Doors" is as out of date and roughly as appealing as a microwave burrito from 1999 found under the seats of one's car. Getting that nadir out of the way quickly enough, the album does manage to rebound somewhat: the remaining songs are largely free of terrible rapping, but singer Michael Aitzetmueller remains the weak link. An anonymous singer who works almost entirely at the strained high end of his register, Aitzetmueller is like every poodle-haired interchangeable cog in every '80s metal band named after the guitarist's surname. The rest of the band isn't half bad, playing melodic old-school metal with a refreshing lack of pomp; with a better singer (someone in the Bruce Dickinson school, perhaps), Loxodrome could be a lot more interesting than they currently are.